Information storage devices are used to retrieve and/or store data in computers and other consumer electronics devices. A magnetic hard disk drive is an example of an information storage device that includes one or more heads that can both read and write, but other information storage devices also include heads—sometimes including heads that cannot write. All heads that can read or write may be referred to as read/write heads herein, regardless of whether the head is also capable of other functions and/or includes other structures, such as a heater, laser, microactutor, lapping guide, etc.
In a modern magnetic hard disk drive device, each read/write head is a sub-component of a head-gimbal assembly (HGA) that typically includes a laminated flexure to carry the electrical signals to and from the read/write head. The HGA, in turn, is a sub-component of a head-stack assembly (HSA) that typically includes a plurality of HGAs, an actuator, and a flexible printed circuit (FPC). The plurality of HGAs are attached to various arms of the actuator.
Modern laminated flexures typically include flexure conductive traces that are isolated from a flexure structural layer by a flexure dielectric layer. So that the signals from or to the read/write head can reach the FPC on the actuator body, each HGA flexure includes a flexure tail that extends away from the head along a corresponding actuator arm and ultimately attaches to the FPC adjacent the actuator body. That is, the flexure includes flexure traces that extend from adjacent the read/write head and continue along the flexure tail to a flexure tail terminal region that includes electrically conductive flexure bond pads adjacent the FPC.
Each flexure tail is physically held adjacent a supporting actuator arm, typically by adhesive tacking within a groove along a side of the actuator arm. If the flexure tail is not adequately secured to the actuator arm, air induced by disk rotation can cause the flexure tail to excessively flutter. An insulative cover layer typically covers the conductive traces along the flexure tail, for example to prevent incidental shorting by contact with any adjacent conductive body, or with tooling during assembly.
Greater signal bandwidth in the flexure tail transmission path may allow improvement of recording and readback rates, which may enable improved information storage device performance and capacity. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved HGA design that may improve the transmission bandwidth for signals sent to or from the read/write head.